What is the new normal today, and how do we navigate it?
We are living in an uncertain and complex time, in a scenario of rapid change: suspended between wars, environmental disruption, global financial crises, and generational and gender divides.
And we find ourselves different on the inside too — changed, in a constant search for trust and for answers that the pandemic and post‑pandemic period have fueled, catapulted into the realm of the “unpredictable”.
The crises triggered by the post‑pandemic period created a breaking point to which we were immediately called to adapt.
The wars that erupted, along with the environmental and financial crises, once again marked a breaking point to which we responded with new behaviors and habits. Adapting again and continuously — this is what the “new normal” has led us to, without forecasts. The new normal is not temporary; it requires us to stay within situations, with our fragilities and vulnerabilities caused by the lack of predictability.
And it’s not just a matter of smart working. In this new landscape, companies find themselves managing relationships differently; a new kind of listening must be trained, and structured feedback is increasingly adopted as a motivational lever and a tool for leadership development.
In an attempt to make up for the time lost during the most critical periods, it is concerning to observe that one consequence is the rise in stress and tension, especially among young people.
Some studies confirm this:
Gen Z — those born between the mid‑1990s and the mid‑2000s — report feeling stressed regularly at a higher rate than Millennials. And among young Gen Z individuals, stress affects women more significantly. Triggering factors are financial in nature, both medium‑long term and short term, as well as issues related to family welfare.
What needs are these young individuals trying to meet?
What choices are they facing?
The Deloitte Global 2022 Gen Z and Millennial Survey
Every day we make countless decisions without even realizing it. Acting, choosing, and at the same time navigating uncertainty has become a skill. And if normal is not predictable, then how can we be ready?
Is there a pill we can take to regain energy and that innovative, anti‑stress spark? Absolutely — it’s called CREATIVITY!
Creativity is the ECO‑SUSTAINABLE answer that can help people, companies, and the system we live and operate in make a leap toward generative momentum. Generative momentum allows us to identify new and different possibilities quickly when faced with a challenging situation.
Creativity is a valuable tool for leaders who make continuous decisions — decisions that are, by nature, uncertain when the context is ambiguous. Stimulating creativity allows us to adopt a courageous and open mindset in which we explore multiple possibilities, transform, and generate responses rapidly.
All of us can become aware of the role and responsibility we have in enabling social evolution.
To evolve — individually and collectively — by adopting a creative approach as leaders and as human beings. This is the invitation to both younger and older generations.
Let’s train ourselves to use creative thinking to generate new solutions and fuel innovation in every area of our lives. Creativity is not the privilege of a few. We are all creative in our own way — we just need to practice.
And how do we train creativity? There are simple and more structured stimuli: readings, exercises, and above all, cultivating a curious and open approach to everything around us.
A small exercise to practice, taken from Luciano Boccucci’s book “The Courage to Dare,” is to take a pen and notebook and sit comfortably in a café.
Observe the details around you — objects, people nearby and farther away. Then identify a situation and observe it for 15 minutes. Who are the people you see? How well do they know each other? Why are they meeting? How do they behave with one another? What are they saying? What are they really thinking? And why in this place?… keep asking yourself questions, play with your curiosity. Then choose one of the people and behave as if you were that person… speak, move, eat… as if you were in their shoes.
What do you discover from this new perspective?
What new information emerges?… Then have fun trying it with someone you know — maybe a colleague — and observe what new insights you can uncover from their point of view.
At NostopEvolution, in our strategy and consulting work with clients, we always dedicate part of the project to creativity. Without creativity, there is no push toward change — let alone toward new behaviors that make work in organizations more efficient.
